The Yakima County Auditor's Office went through an extensive selection process before choosing the Hart eSlate™ as the County's ballot tabulation system. Using the input from a diverse groups of county residents and community leaders, the eSlate was seen as the best choice to replace our old punch card system. Below are just a few of the reasons why eSlate™ was chosen.

The Law

The federal government made the decision that all punch cards systems had to be replaced by 2006.

The Justice Department made it mandatory that all ballots in Yakima County be published in both English and Spanish.

The eSlate™ system, fit the bill on both these issues. Voters entering the voting booth will be able to select the language they prefer.

Accessibility

The eSlate system will, for the first time in Yakima County, enable the sight impaired to be able to vote without the aid of others. Those who are unable to read will also be able to vote, unaided by others.

Security

The new ballot tabulation system will be secure and has been proven to extremely reliable. At no time will the system be open to connection by other computers or connected to the Internet. While Yakima County will post election results, it will be a manual process to move the election returns from the computer doing the tabulation to the Internet.

Quicker Election Returns

State law prohibits the tabulation of ballots prior to election day. With the Hart solution, absentee ballots will be able to be scanned, without being tabulated. In fact, the tabulation of the ballots occurs on a separate computer altogether. This feature will enable the election staff to process more absentees prior to election day.

Ease of Use

Voters will find the eSlate system easier to use than Yakima County's old punch card system. No longer will voters have to worry about checking both sides of multiple cards. The eSlate system will show voters exactly who or what they voted for as well as any contests they may have omitted.